Relief Fund Backs Residents Living in the Shadow of Rocket Attacks

In just two months, more than 350 Kassam rockets have blasted the tiny city of Sderot, which sits in Israel's Negev region a mere three miles from the Gaza Strip. The population of 25,000 has been dealing with grief and tragedy, economic devastation and the spectre of living under the constant threat of exploding rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists.

To support the city in crisis, the Chabad-Lubavitch Sderot Relief Fund – a recently launched project of Chabad of Sderot – has dedicated its funds to providing immediate and long-term assistance to victims of the attacks. The organization offers a wide range of support services to local families, from providing food and shelter to grief counseling and hospital visitations. In an effort to boost children's morale and divert attention from the attacks, the campaign also organizes youth activities, summer camps and afternoon programs.

Supporting the organization in its efforts is a new website, helpsderot.com. The website is the brainchild of 21-year-old Yosef Eliezrie of Yorba Linda, California, who has had his own share of trauma in a two-year battle with the debilitating and life-threatening effects of leukemia. He not only beat the odds, but has mustered all of his energy over the past couple of months to launch the Sderot campaign.

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After enduring lengthy hospital stays, a bone marrow transplant and countless treatments, Eliezrie most recently spent ten days in the isolation unit at Orange County Children's Hospital with a painful bout of shingles. While in isolation, Eliezrie put the final touches on helpsderot.com. The site offers background on the situation in Sderot, outlines Chabad-Lubavitch's emergency-assistance initiatives, directs visitors to a photo gallery and enables online donations. Soon to be unveiled on the site is a "Heroes Gallery," portraying those who have been murdered by the recent Kassam attacks.

Perhaps the most moving aspect of the Web site, however, is a blog by Tzivia Pizem, who with her husband Rabbi Chananel Pizem helps direct Chabad of Sderot. Originally from Crown Heights, Pizem gives a first-hand look into living life on the edge and with four young children to care for.

In one of the video segments on the Web site, Pizem tells of the Tzeva Adom red-alert system, which notifies residents of incoming missiles, something less than a minute before impact.

"Most of the time there isn't a daily routine, because there's always something at seven in the morning when the alarm goes on, or at 10 or at nine, where it kind of messes up your whole day, messes up your train of thought, what you are doing," says Pizem. "It became really massive again… We don't think this is going to end; we're waiting for protection, for a solution."